Resumes

What is a resume?
Parts of a resume
   Resume Styles
Other Information

Resumes continue to be one of the most important deciding factors in determining whether the you, the job seeker gets an interview. A good resume gets a "foot in the door". Think of your resume as a sales tool. Just how well can you "sell" yourself? You are the product, and the employer is the buyer. Your resume must interest the employer in what you have to offer--namely, your skills, knowledge, and experience.

A good resume is a highly personal and individual summary of a person's background, experience, training, and skills. Anyone can create a resume, even a recent high school grad or someone looking for their first job.

Preparing a good resume takes time. You should complete your resume before beginning your job search campaign. You will need a good resume to send to prospective employers and also to leave with those you contact when seeking information within a company.
(Resume Writing Made Easy, 7th ed. Copyright 2002)

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Parts of a resume

Resumes should contain these categories. Depending on your experience and what information is relevant for the position, you probably won't need to use all of them.

Name, address, city, state, phone number and email address.
When listing your phone number remember that if you are not able to answer it, there should be a professional voice message greeting requesting the caller to leave contact information.
Do NOT use a message recorded by your children or one with your favorite band in the background. (You can always change it back once you land the job). Remember to use a professional email address rather than a cute personal one. There are plenty of sites that offer free email services and FC students with computer lab accounts receive an email address as well.
An objective statement that describes the type of position you hope to obtain. You may choose to state the field you are interested in or even the specific job title you wish to apply for.
A summary of your qualifications.
Gives the employer a summary before he or she reads the rest of your resume.
A record of your employment history.
List employment beginning with the most recent jobs first. Use action verbs to describe what you did in each position.
A record of your education.
List most recent first and include name of institution and date of degree, certification, or graduation. You may wish to include major areas of study if they are relevant and your GPA if you graduated with honors.
Professional training.
Focus on special courses, seminars, or other continuing education.
Technological skills.
List specific computer applications you are proficient in or other relevant job-related skills, such as experience with types of machinery or equipment.
Professional affiliations.
List only those that relate to your objective. This is a good place to mention community involvement. Detail what you have done with each organization.
A record of your military service if you consider it a "selling point" and particularly if your duties were job-related.
Provide branch of service, dates of service and rank at time of discharge. Detail relevant duties.
Licenses and accreditations.
List only relevant information.
Knowledge of foreign languages.
List languages you know, level of proficiency, and any translating experience you have had.
Special accomplishments or other related facts.
This section can also be labeled achievements, activities, projects, awards, volunteer experiences, or other related facts.
A statement to the effect that your references and, if applicable, samples of your work, are available upon request.
(from Resume Writing Made Easy, 7th ed. Copyright 2002)

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Styles of Resumes

There are five major resume styles. They are listed from most to least common.
To see examples, visit our sample resumes pages.

Chronological
Is most appropriate for people with two or more relevant job experiences. It emphasizes dates by listing work experience in reverse chronological order and description of each job. This style can put older workers, younger workers, and individuals who are returning to work after long absence at a disadvantage.
Functional
Useful if you have had limited work experience or if you have had a long break in your working experience. It is organized according to the functions of the job you wish to obtain. You select only those facts from previous employment that relate to the job you are applying for. This style takes more time and effort to write.
Combination
Just like it sounds, this style is a cross between the functional and chronological styles. It allows the applicant to emphasize the preferred and relevant skills and satisfies the employer's need for names and dates.
Creative
Appropriate for careers such as photography, music, dancing, writing, graphic arts, web design, modeling, radio announcer, etc. Examples of creative resumes include photos, video recordings, audio recordings, brochures, or web sites.
Electronic
This is a traditional resume that has been modified to take advantage of the use of electronic scanning practices. Large companies often scan resumes into a database to make searching for candidates easier and more efficient. This style includes a brief skill summary or list of keywords at the top of the page. Avoid using bullets, underlines, boxes, tabs, columns, italics, and shading, since these elements do not scan well.
(from Resume Writing Made Easy, 7th ed. Copyright 2002)

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Lastly

Make the resume attractive to the eye--
by using capital letter, bullets, appropriate spacing, underlining, etc. Experiment with different layouts.
You may not want to send the exact same resume to every employer.
Feel free to tailor your resume to the position you are applying to.
Use strong action words
(i.e. "Designed," not "Worked on the formulation of...")
Stress accomplishments.
Present yourself accurately and positively.
DON'T LIE. Lying on your resume may be grounds for firing later on.
Never use pronouns, abbreviations, jargon or buzzwords.
Try to limit the length to one page only.
(Very experienced workers may need two pages).
Resumes should be typed on good quality paper.
If you are going to mail your resume (always a good follow up to a faxed or emailed resume) use a full size envelope so you don't have to fold your resume. The distinctive envelope is also sure to get more immediate attention from the employer.
Accompany your resume with a cover letter.
A cover letter acts as an introduction to your resume.
PROOFREAD PROOFREAD PROOFREAD!
Then ask a friend to proofread for you! (pick someone with good grammar and spelling skills).

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